A normal user's look into the world of 3D Stereo Technologies

I’m pretty sure that quite a few people here are following the Jace Hall Show and there are some good news for the stereoscopic 3D gamers revealed in the latest trailer for the upcoming Season 5 of the show. It is apparently being shot with a 3D camera and will be available in stereoscopic 3D format, but maybe only for anaglyph red-cyan 3D glasses which is a bit of a drawback in my opinion. Maybe by the time the episodes of the Season 5 starts broadcasting we are also going to see a Side by Side 3D version of them also available besides the anaglyph ones. Anyway, it is a good thing that a gaming show such as the Jace Hall Show is embracing the 3D format as it may help more gamers and developers to also start paying more attention to the stereoscopic 3D gaming trend. At the end of the trailer embedded above you can see some sample anaglyph 3D footage along with the actual announcement that the new season will be available in 3D. They are apparently going to be using Panasonic’s AG-3DA1 3D cameras for the shooting the show in 3D…

Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 3D camera is what is considered as the first actual alternative in the form of a portable digital camera of the very popular among 3D users Fujifilm Real 3D W1/W3 compact digital cameras is now available on the market and you can get it for $499 USD. The Lumix DMC-3D1 camera comes equipped with dual 12-megapixel sensors capable of capturing stereo 3D photos with a maximum resolution of 3264×2448 (8 Megapixels with 4:3 aspect) or 3264×1840 (6 Megapixels with 16:9 aspect ratio) as well as 3D video with Full HD 1920×1080 resolution (Side by Side with half horizontal resolution, 60i for the NTSC model and 50i for the PAL model). The camera also comes with 4x optical zoom, optical stabilization system, 3.5-inch touchscreen display that is unfortunately not autostereoscopic 3D capable, but there is a HDMI 1.4 output for direct connection to a 3D-capable display.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-3D1 3D camera’s interaxial distance should be very close to 3 centimeters or around 1.2 inches based on the officially announced camera size and the photos of the device, but the exact distance between the two lenses of the camera still hasn’t been officially announced. This is about half of the interaxial distance that the Fujifilm 3D cameras have, meaning that the Panasonic’s product should be more suitable for closer photography in 3D mode. The fact that the Lumix DMC-3D1 does not feature an autostereoscopic 3D display that can be used for direct previewing of the images and video you’ve shot in 3D mode is a serious drawback in the useability of the device in stereo 3D mode as well. If you were so eager to get one of these and try it out, you are welcome to confirm the exact interaxial distance as well as to share your feedback from the product and even some sample 3D photos and 3D videos you have recorded…

The French company Camsorts has chosen the CES show this year to present their new 3D-capable action camera that is going under the name Fusion 3D (if you’ve been there and seen it live you are welcome to share your feedback). The interesting thing about the device is that it is going to be providing a dual sensor Full HD 3D camera in a single package with a fixed interaxial distance. Camsports has not yet officially announced what will be the interaxial distance of the Fusion 3D camera, however the interaxial should be roughly about 3 centimeters, judging from the official pictures of the device. You should know that the camera itself is not going to directly produce the output in a single file, instead it will be recording in two separate streams in two different SD cards, so you will have to join them in the post production. This may sound a bit inconvenient at first, but apparently the idea behind this design is to be able to offer a non 3D recording mode as well with the option to use the two sensors for recording with different settings. Both sensors should be well synchronized no matter if you use them in 2D or 3D mode, and when not in stereo 3D recording mode you should be able to use different resolutions, exposure, color temperature, white balance or even apparently shutter speed.

And now a bit about technical specifications, the Fusion 3D camera should be offering a 135°wide-angle Full HD recording in either 1920×1080 with 25 or 30 fps or 1280×720 in 25/30/50/60 fps modes (not too sure if it is interlaced or progressive as there is contradicting information). The Fusion 3D camera will apparently use a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor and should also be able to record photos in 5Mp resolution (not yet clear if this will also support 3D or only in 2D mode) and the videos are recorded in MOV file container (hopefully with H.264 compression). As mentioned, the camera records two separate streams on two different SD flash cards with two 4GB cards included with the product and up to 32 GB cards supported. The dimensions of the Camsports Fusion 3D camera are: 13 cm in length, 7 cm in width, 2.5 cm in depth and the weight is 230 grams with the battery included (should last you for 60 minutes of use). The device will not be waterproof apparently and waterproof case should be offered as an accessory should you need to make it more resistant to not so good environmental conditions, something that is quite common in action sports.

The new 3D-capable Fusion 3D action camera should become available on the market in the spring this year with a recommended price of $599 USD and that is something that might be a bit of a setback at first, but it also depends on the level of quality and performance that it will be offering as compared to other already available alternatives such as GoPro’s 3D HERO system using GoPro Hero/Hero 2 cameras for example. So be on the lookout for first reviews and/or sample 2D and 3D footage recorded with that new camera when they start becoming available online, hopefully very soon.